Thursday, March 31, 2011

I just received this sweet card from our friend Becky O'Donnell and thought I'd share it with you: The layered flower accent adds a nice springtime touch, especially with the little leaf. This card features 2931K Sm. Swingin' Bunny and 0122E Sm. Swing Wish (also found in 11036MC Bunny #1 Clear Set).

Becky also sent this adorable tag, made with 0746J Sm. Shakin' A Leg, 0708D Hare's Treat, and 0121E Sm. Hop To It (or 11037MC Bunny #2 Clear Set): Although it tore just a bit during transit, you can see how Becky used a hole punch to insert a treat in bunny's hand, similar to some of the cards from last month's blog hop.

Becky always has tons of creative ideas, some of which she's teaching in her Fabulous Folds 3 class in Akron during April. It was so popular, it sold out and they added an additional class. If you're able to attend this show, I'll bet you would really enjoy it. (There are also spots open in classes from Darcie's, Art Gone Wild, and Inky, too. Please click here for details.)

Speaking of shows, Steve and I are headed to Maryland tonight for this weekend's Stamping by the Sea convention in Ocean City. If you'll be there, do stop by and say hello...we're looking forward to visiting with you!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Congratulations to StampinCathy, Mary J, and Babe O'Mara, whose names were randomly drawn from the participants in last week's blog hop. Ladies, please email me with your address so I can send out your HoneyPOP prize. And thanks to everyone who left comments...we appreciate your very kind feedback!

If you'd like to play along in our HoneyPOP Challenge, we're still accepting entries through April. Just upload a photo of the card(s) you've made with one or more HoneyPOP products to our Facebook page. We'll be giving away prizes for (1) our designers' favorite card, (2) the card that receives the most "Likes" during April, and (3) a participant's card that is chosen randomly from a drawing at the end of the next month.

The HoneyPOP Challenge winners will each receive $25 in Inky stamp credit. Neato! So please grab your HoneyPOP stuff, and join us for some creative cardmaking. :-)

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Nope, today's blog post title isn't the name of a new convenience store. It refers to RustyBird's suggestion for overcoming stampers' block, which Steve wanted to try.

The "grabbing" process wasn't entirely random, as I did steer his hand toward our Easter collection so the project would be seasonally appropriate. And then he did have to pick two more times until he got a saying stamp instead of another main image.

Interestingly, however, his two final choices happened to go together...sort of:

They were 3200L Huggin' Bunny and 10139D 'Tis The Season. Then he grabbed a pencil:

And another one:

And three more after that, until he had five of them total:

They were Pale Vermillion, Imperial Violet, Limepeel, Aquamarine, and Magenta. Actually, I thought they went together really well. I even had a sheet of Darcie's patterned paper to go with them.

If you decide to try RustyBird's Grab 'n Go method, please email me with a photo of your creation or upload it to our Facebook page. (We might even be inspired to give away a goodie or two, hint hint!) We'd love to see what you come up with!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Back in late January, when I was making the original set of samples using our new HoneyPOP Collection, this was the very first card I made..and it's been the one I've liked best of all (from my own creations, that is):

Not only do we think artist Tammy DeYoung's birdy is really cute, but of course the pop-up cupcake on the inside makes this card extra special:

I've seen and posted about other examples that our friends and customers have made since then, but I'd love to see MORE...and I figured you might, too. So I asked our DT members and guest designer Keri to give it a whirl, and today we're starting our HoneyPOP Blog Hop to show you the results!

Please stop by each designer's blog and leave some warm & fuzzy feedback as you go. :-) On Monday, March 28th, three winners will be drawn at random to receive a surprise HoneyPOP Clear Set and coordinating Honeycomb Paper Pad. The more you comment, the more chances you have to win! (Limit one comment on each designer's blog plus this post, with up to seven comments total.)

Once you're finished, please come back here and leave a final comment. We'd also love to see your creations and invite you to join our HoneyPOP Challenge:

Visit our Facebook page and upload a photo of the card(s) you've made using HoneyPOP items. At the end of April, we'll be giving away prizes for (1) our designers' favorite card, (2) the card that receives the most "Likes" during April, and (3) a participant's card that is chosen randomly from a drawing at the end of next month.

The winners will each receive $25 in Inky stamp credit. Cool, huh! And if you haven't yet gotten your HoneyPOP stamps and paper, there is still time because we'll do this again in May...and perhaps even after that. Please come join the fun. We can't wait to see what you make!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Wow, I had fun reading your ideas for Steve's next project and also how to cure stampers' block. They were all good, but Deb's suggestion actually made me laugh out loud until the cat looked at me funny.

Steve's choice, however, was to follow RustyBird's recommendation. So later this week, he'll be trying out her "grab" method for creating cards and we'll show you the results here.

And congrats to Suzanne, who won the random drawing. RustyBird and Suzanne, please email me with your mailing addresses.

Thanks to everyone who played. If you're looking for more ways to participate, please check back tomorrow for our next blog hop. Guess what we'll be featuring? Here's a hint:

Yep, just in time for those of you who wanted to see more HoneyPOP cards. Six of our DT members plus our friend Keri will be posting LOTS of creations to inspire you!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

It's really a question for YOU, Inky readers! This evening, Steve was going to make another project for the blog. It had been several months since his last creation, and I thought you might enjoy a post from our "guest designer." The only problem is that he encountered stamper's block. It's happened to all of us, and it's frustrating.

So we were thinking, why not ask for your help? Would you be willing to assist Steve?

Please leave a comment at the end of this post with a few pieces of information:

1. Which specific stamp(s) or stamp set would you like to see him use? (Provide the item numbers/names.)

2. What technique, type of project, and/or colors should he incorporate? (You can be as detailed, or not, as you wish.)

3. Any hints you can share for overcoming stamper's block when it strikes you?

Next Tuesday, Steve will choose his favorite idea. We'll post the results here, and the person who submitted the idea will win a prize! (Yes, he will actually make that project, too...probably later during the week or soon thereafter.) Plus, we'll do a random drawing for a second prize using everyone's entries. Yep, that's TWO chances to win.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Our friend Chelsea Comer created it using 10968MC Spa Turtle Clear Set (or it could be made with 0459F Spa Turtle and 0057D Soak Relax Enjoy, omitting the towel bar).

As you can see by the "hints" in the photo, this greeting would make a perfect accompaniment to a gift of bath goodies for a special friend. As you begin another busy week, I hope YOU will take a few moments to relax, too!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Earlier this week, I wrote about how I was sending a thank you card. Today's post is about a thank you card I just received. It was made with 0254H Blanket Teacup Mousie and 0220D Micey Nice (also in 10953MC Teacup Mousies #2 Clear Set):

Didn't it turn out cute? The mousie was colored with pencils and blended with Gamsol, and the flocked brads offset the polka dots on the teacup nicely. The layout is clean and simple, and I think it would work for a number of stamp images and sayings in most people's collection.

Inside were handwritten notes referring to a class I taught at the Clearwater show last month:

These ladies included their photo, which reminded me they were part of the delightful peanut gallery in the back corner of the room:

(Only kidding...they were wonderful and did NO heckling at all.) Thanks so much to Anita, Cyndi, Debby, Elaine, Jan, and Joyce for your lovely card.

And to our other Inky blog readers, I hope your weekend is also filled with thanks...either given or received. Have a happy one!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Last weekend, our gang went to Rockford, IL for a convention. Most of the time, shows are a lot of work and we're pretty tired out by the time they're done. But they are also a ton of fun and we absolutely love seeing our friends and customers! Sometimes we even get a few moments to visit, like I did with Chelsea:

Other times we goof around a bit, like Maddie did here:

And every once in a while, we get the opportunity to do something really unique. On Saturday night, we drove to Stoughton, WI (about an hour away) and took a ring-making class from Chris Mode.

Chris is the promoter of the One of a Kind show we do in Madison every November, and she manufactures Peerless Watercolors. Not only that, but she is an accomplished jewelry artist who runs the Art Glass & Bead Show and sells her works on Etsy. Plus she's super nice, and I mean that in a good way! We felt pretty lucky to have her teach us how to make her cool spinner rings.

It all started with a band of sterling silver:

We had to file down the short ends so they could eventually be soldered together, as Chris demonstrated:

Then we pounded metal stamps into the silver to make designs, as Dawn did:

After I was done with the stamping part, mine looked like this:

We rolled the ends together:

Then we soldered them before slipping the ring onto a mandrel to pound it into a circular shape:

Next, we polished our rings:

And then we did a whole bunch of other secret things before our rings were finally done:

I'm joking...they weren't secrets. But it was pretty late into the night by that time, and I got lax with the camera. Sorry about that.

Today I put together a quick card to send Chris. It's just a simple greeting so I can write a few words of thanks to her. I added a couple of elements for visual interest, though, starting with foam tape:

I think foam tape is such a great invention! It's perfect for giving dimension to your projects:

Then I sprinkled ultrafine glitter on the bows and belts of 8002K Girlfriends (shown with 10271E Along The Way). Finally, I used a Bow-Easy to make the tiny double-looped bow on top of the flower:

About Me

Copyright Policy

All designs, projects, and instructions shown on this blog are for personal, non-commercial use only and may not be sold in any form or reproduced for other purposes without specific written permission from Inky Antics.

Inky Antics images are copyrighted and nay not be mechanically reproduced or copied by any means including, but not limited to, photocopying, computer scanning and printing, using overhead or opaque projectors for enlarging or hand-copying images, or computer downloading and editing.

Our artists and employees work hard to bring you new images and quality products. Thank you for helping to make this possible by respecting our copyright.